A number of activists and representatives of political movements in a press conference at the Press Syndicate on Thursday launched a document titled “Minimum Constitutional Requirements.”
The document was submitted two weeks ago to the Committee of 50.
They presented the proposals that the committee took into consideration and others it did not, specifically as regards the rights of trade unions, social justice and military trials.
“The new constitution is better than the one before,” said activist Mohamed Mamdouh. “But it lacks many rights and freedoms that should be contained in a constitution of a revolution.”
The document praised the rights to food and to health that are mentioned in the new constitution, but said it lacked women's rights in case of medical error, and criticized the imposition of a progressive income tax on individuals and not corporations.
It denounced the restricting of the law on accessing information with the phrase “as long as it does not threaten national security,” which it said was too ambiguous.
It praised the chapter on the judiciary but said that it needs to be modified for the judiciary to be independent from from the executive branch. It also praised the article banning the seconding of judges.
The document said the constitution did not provide the right to demonstrate and left it up to the law to regulate it, which raises questions about the protests law that is rejected by all forces.
It also said the constitution did not tackle the freedom and independence of the media.
“We will continue to press for modifications,” said Mamdouh. “The economic and social rights mentioned in the constitution are good but not enough.”
For her part, Rabab al-Mahdi, a political science professor at the American University, criticized the government for launching a campaign persuading people to vote for the constitution. “It is not right to vote for a constitution that was amended by parliament,” she said.
Mahdi also criticized the military establishment. “It is a huge economic and political entity as well,” she said. “This is not right.”
She also said the military budget should be announced. “It comes from taxpayers’ money,” she said.
“Military trials for civilians make Egypt an exception from the rest of the world,” she added. “And the appointment of the defense minister with the approval of the military council makes the military an isolated island within the political system.”
“The Defense Ministry is not more important than the Health Ministry, and the health minister is not less important than the defense minister,” she said.
Wael Tawfik, a researcher of economic and social affairs, denounced the constitution for ranking economic and social rights below political rights. “The establishment of trade unions needs a law while the establishment of political parties is just by notification,” he said.
He pointed out that the new constitution did not criminalize arbitrary dismissal of workers but just prohibited it. “This puts workers at the mercy of businessmen,” he said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
